Inking device



Nov. 22, 1955 H. FIELDS 2,724,489

INKING DEVICE Filed July 14, 1954 FIG 4. INVEN TOR.

//E?5E/Q7' 55 05 United States Patent INKING DEVICE Herbert Fields, New York, N. Y. Application July 14, 1954, Serial No. 443,316

3 Claims. (Cl. 197171) The present invention relates to inking devices and in particular to such devices for re-inking ribbons used in typewriters, adding machines, and the like.

It is well known that writing or printing machines employ a ribbon as the means of supplying the ink necessary for the Writing or printing.

It has been proposed before to provide inking devices for re-inking the ribbon of a writing or printing machine, yet, these known structures either did not function properly or were of such complicated construction that they were prohibitive due to their expensive manufacture.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide an inking device for ribbons used in writing or printing machines which is of simple design and of economical manufacture and assures proper inking of the ribbon only upon use of the machine.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an inking device used in writing or printing machines which comprises a special ribbon spool consisting of a hollow shaft, adapted to receive the ribbon spool spindle of any writing or printing machine, a base plate and a top gear, and a roller is disposed on top of the said base plate parallel to the axis of the said ribbon spool, which roller has keyed to its shaft a pinion meshing with the top gear; a cartridge is disposed at the periphery of the base plate and feeding means disposed at one end of the cartridge engages the said roller on one side thereof, while the ribbon passes the same roller on the other side thereof, so that upon turning of the spool the roller is forced to turn due to the pinion and to transfer the ink from the feeding means of the cartridge to the passing ribbon.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent in the following detailed description, the present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective top view of the inking device;

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective top view of the inking device;

Fig. 3 is a section along the lines 3-3 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 4 is an axial section along the lines 44 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawing, the inking device comprises a base plate 1 which carries the wound ribbon 2, the latter being surrounded by a cylindrical member 3 which has a bottom flange 4 along its entire periphery and an upper flange 5 only over a part of its periphery and preferably over 120.

A gear 6 is disposed on top of the cylindrical member 3 and a hollow bolt 7 which receives the ribbon spool spindle, constituting a part of the writing or printing machine, extends upwardly through the base plate 1 and is connected thereto for common rotation by projecting through a proper opening 8 of the gear 6, to receive a nut 9 as fastening means to bring about rotation of the gear 6 together with the ribbon spool spindle. It is to be understood, however, that any other suitable means for connecting the base plate 1, the gear 6 and the hollow 2,724,489 Patented Nov. 22, 1955 bolt 7 may be used. A cartridge 10 containing proper ink particularly designed for ribbons used in writing and printing machines is disposed between the bottom and upper flanges 4 and 5 of the cylindrical member 3, which cartridge 10 is curved to conform to the configuration of the'cylindrical member 3, the flanges 4 and 5 retaining the cartridge 10 preferably by friction. One end of the cartridge 10 has a narrowed end 11 and receives a felt 12 extending partly beyond the narrowed end 11 of the cartridge 10 and is adapted to engage a feeding roller 13 rotatably mounted vertically between the flanges 4' and 5 of the cylindrical member 3. The roller 13 has a pinion 14 secured thereto for'common rotation therewith and the pinion 14 meshes with the gear 6, so that upon turning of the ribbon spool by operation of the writing or printing machine (not shown) the gear 6 will likewise turn and, thereby, bring about rotation of the pinion 14 and, thus, also of the roller 13. As particularly clearly indicated in Fig. 3, the ribbon 2 passes the feeding roller 13 diametrically opposite the point of engagement between the felt 12 and the feeding roller 13 and due to the forced rotation of the roller 13 upon turning of the ribbon spool, ink is transferred from the felt 12 to the ribbon 2 only if the ribbon spool turns, in other words, only upon operation of themachine. If the machine stands still no direct contact between the felt 12 and the ribbon is possible because the roller 13 could not turn when the machine is not operated.

In the present embodiment, as shown in the drawing, the bolt 7 is used as means for connecting the gear 6 for common rotation with the base plate 1 or the ribbon spool, though it is quite clear that any proper equivalent means may be used to bring about the same result.

The present device operates in the following manner;

Upon using a typewriter or the like, one ribbon spool is forced to turn on which the ribbon 2 coming from the other ribbon spool is wound, while simultaneously the ribbon 2 is unwound from the other ribbon spool. It is of course possible to provide the present inking device either on both ribbon spools or on either one of them. Since the ribbon 2 is forced to engage the feeding roller 13, which upon turning of the ribbon spool turns simultaneously and transfers ink from the felt 12 to the ribbon 2, a sufficient amount of ink is always transferred to the ribbon without over-inking the same. If, for instance, a new ribbon is used, the inking device is to be rendered inoperative which can easily be achieved by moving the cartridge 10 away from the roller 13 so that no transfer of ink is possible from the felt 12 to the roller 13. If the ribbon 2 is then weakened a mere sliding of the cartridge 10 along the periphery of the cylindrical member 3 is required to bring the felt 12 of the cartridge 10 into engagement with the feeding roller 13 whereupon the inking of the ribbon 2 starts.

While I have disclosed one embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that this embodiment is given by example only and not in a limiting sense, the scope of the present invention being determined by the objects and the claims.

I claim:

1. In a device for supplying ink to writing or printing devices, employing a ribbon, a ribbon spool comprising a base plate, a hollow shaft extending upwardly from the said base plate and adapted to carry a wound ribbon, and a gear disposed above the said hollow shaft, a feeding roller disposed on top of the said base plate and carrying a pinion at one of its ends, the said pinion being in mesh with the said gear, and an ink-cartridge disposed around the said ribbon with one end of the said cartridge engaging the said roller, the opposite side of the said roller en-. gaging the said ribbon upon winding and unwinding the 3 latter, and the gear and pinion turning the said feeding roller upon rotation of the {Said ribbon spool.

2. In a device for supplying ink to writing or printing devices employing a ribbon, a ribbon spool comprising a base plate, a hollow shaft extending upwardly from the said base plate and adapted to carry a wound ribbon, and a'gear disposed above the said hollow shaft, a cylindrical member having a slot sitting on the said base plate and surrounding the said hollow shaft, the said cylindrical member having a bottom flange and an upper fiange, both said flangesextending over at least a part of the periphery of time said cylindrical member, a feeding roller turnably mounted between the said bottom and upper flanges and carrying a pinion, the latter meshing with the said gear, and. an ink-cartridge disposed along the periphery of the said cylindrical member and retained between the Said flanges thereof, the open end of the said cartridge engaging. the said roller, and the opposite side of the said roller engaging the said ribbon projecting from the said 4 ribbon spool through the said slot of the said cylindrical member upon winding and unwinding, respectively, the said ribbon, and the gear and pinion turning the said feeding roller upon rotation of the said ribbon spool.

3. The inking device, as set forth in claim 2, in which the said cartridge is movably disposed between the said flanges in order to bring the said cartridge in and out of engagement with the said roller, and the said open end of the said cartridge is equipped with a felt material to transfer ink from the said cartridge to the said roller in the operative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,281,534 Donegan Oct. 15, 1918 1,414,865 Delbare May 2, 1922 2,104,469 Pelton et al. Jan. 4, 1938 

